Improvement in table-leaf hinges



' 1. c. envi.

Table-Leaf Hinges.

N0.]55`,188, e. Patented Sept. 22,1874.

y i I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN C. GOVE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOB TO HERBERT F. TAYLOR, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN TABLE-LEAI-l HINGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 155,188, dated September 22,1874; application filed September 20, 1873.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN C. GovE, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drop Leaf Table- Hinge, of which the following is a full and complete description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side View of the hinge. Figs. 2 and 3 are side views of detached sections. Figs. 4 and 5 are plan views of detached sections.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several views.

The nature of this invention relates to a hinge for drop-leaf of sewing-machines; and the special object thereof is to support said leaf in a horizontal position by the use of an arm supported in a bracket secured to the under side of the table, the arm being secured to the leaf', which, when extended horizontally, is retained in such position by a lip on the rear end of the arm catching under the edge of the rear end of the bracket, substantially as hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings, A, Fig. 4, represents the bracket referred to, and which is ofthe shape shown. d d' are ledges projecting from the bottom along each side of the slot. f On each side of the bracket is a stop, kk', and near the front end of the ledge d is a nib, h, Fig. 4, the purpose of which will presently be shown. B, Figs. 3 and 5, represents the arm above referred to. g g are shoulders, andi is a lug. Projecting from the rear end of the arm is a lip, c, as shown in Fig. 3.

The practicalapplication and operation of the hinge are as follows: The arm B is made fast to the under side of a table-leaf. To the under side of the table m is made fast, in like manner, the bracket A, which is made to inclose the projecting end of the arm. The relative position and connection of the two parts of the hinge when applied to the table and leaf are as shown in Fig. 1, which represents the arm, when attached to the leg of a table, in an extended position. This position of the arm and leaf is maintained by the lip c being caught under the end e of the bracket, while the shoulders g g rest upon the front end of the ledges d d', inside of the nib 71., which nib prevents the arm from drawing forward, and consequent dropping of the leaf. To lower said leaf, it is slightly lifted, so as to cause the shoulders-g g to pass over the nib h. When thus lifted, it is at the same time drawn forward to disengage the lip c from the edge of the bracket. The leaf' can vnow be dropped. The leaf will remain suspended by the lug i resting upon the ledges d d while that part of the arm held within the bracket passed therefrom through the slot. To prevent the arm from drawing entirely out from the bracket is the purpose of the stops k lo', against which the shoulders come, and no farther, on pulling' forward the leaf'.

ln the application of the lip c to the end of the arm', the strain of the leaf is in part removed from the front screws, whereby the bracket is fastened to the table, and transferred to and exerted upward upon the end of' the bracket. Hence, it is less liable to be torn away from the table by the weight of the leaf than if no such lip were used, but the end of the arm allowed to press upward directly on the bottom of the table.

The wide fiat lug or head t' is ,not only the pivoted point of the hinge, and by which the leaf is suspended when let down, but it also acts as a cam for forcing the end of' the arm back against the end ofthe slot of the bracket, thereby causing the leaf, when dropped, to swing under the edge of the table. This it does by its upper edge striking against the cheeks or stops k kf, and by which, when theleaf hangs perpendicular, the head, together with the end of' the arm,will ll the space between said stops and the end of the bracket, thereby preventing any sliding movement of the arm as it hangs upon the ledges d d.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The arm B, provided with lips c and head i, arranged as shown, in combination with the bracket A, having the stops k k', as and for the purpose set forth.

JOHN C. GOVE. 

